Poultry

114 articles
The Newest Newbies!

The Newest Newbies!

Our new chicks are in and are officially the cutest little ladies ever!  I'll post more about how we plan to build a new brooder and expand the chicken run to accommodate our 9 new cuties (3 Ameraucanas, 3 Australorps & 3 Buff Orpingtons) , but for now, let's just enjoy the cuteness for a bit... Yay for backyard chickens and intense cuteness!
February 10, 2012
Dirty Eggs & Cute Chickens

Dirty Eggs & Cute Chickens

So, last week our chickens decided to lay their eggs not in their cozy nesting boxes, but in the back corner of their coop, right under their roost.  The problem with this?  Well, it is the only part of the coop that is not easily accessible to us without a shovel, broom or big stick.  So, in order to retrieve…
January 26, 2012
Do Our Chickens Pay for Themselves?

Do Our Chickens Pay for Themselves?

Back in August I asked this question, so we've been tracking it on my sidebar ever since.  This is what's happened in a nut (egg?) shell...For a while (read: when we first started this challenge), we were getting 6-7 eggs a day and I was feeling extremely optimistic about our little experiment.Then, the ladies started molting, their eating habits changed, their…
December 11, 2011
The Chickens are Molting!?! Now What?

The Chickens are Molting!?! Now What?

Why the heck are my chickens losing all their feathers and not producing eggs!?!?  Are they sick?  Pissed?  Dying?  Hungry?  Revolting against the colder temperatures?  WTF?! Wait, they're what?  Molting?  What the heck is molting and why is it happening while I'm tracking egg production vs. the cost of their feed? After a little research (the internet is truly an…
November 12, 2011
Preparing the Chickens for Hibernation

Preparing the Chickens for Hibernation

It's only a matter of time until the ground is frozen over, all the green is gone and covered by a blanket of white.  I enjoy winter.  I really do.  I just wish it wasn't 3 months long. I could be happy with just Spring, Summer and Fall...you? Right now, it's beautiful outside and it's not even freezing at night…
October 27, 2011
A Clean Coop is a Happy Coop

A Clean Coop is a Happy Coop

Chickens are dirty birds.  They poop everywhere and then they kick their poop everywhere else while scratching around for food and bugs.  We probably don't clean out their coop as often as we could (I've read that some people clean out their coops every single week while we do ours every few months), but I think the dry weather we…
August 18, 2011